Time: 7:30 p.m.
Records: South Stanly 3-1; North Rowan 0-4
Series: First meeting
Last week: South Stanly was knocked off by Mount Pleasant 19-16; The Cavaliers fell to Salisbury 51-12
Next week: South Stanly is home against Chatham Central; North Rowan is at East Montgomery
Game notes: North makes its conference debut as a 1A school, taking on the Rebel Bulls of South Stanly. South was seen as the likely No. 2 team in the YVC entering the season but was surprised in its last non-conference tuneup by Mount Pleasant.
The Rebel Bulls own wins over West Stanly, North Stanly and Cox Mill. They have serious talent, including two Division I commitments in outside linebacker Justin Taylor (Virginia Tech) and safety Detric Allen (East Carolina).
The Rebel Bulls got both their TDs last week on passes from Jalen Holt to Cruz Long.
South Stanly’s downfall last week was pass protection. Mount Pleasant linebacker Zach Cook had four sacks.While North remains winless, it showed signs of life last week against Salisbury, scoring its first two TDs of the season on a JesseRudisell-to-Pierre Givens pass play and Samuel Starks’ kickoff return.
North’s offense is averaging 105.1 yards and 3.0 points per game, but it’s headed in the right direction. Cameron Mallett ranks seventh in the county in rushing.
North’s defensive numbers aren’t as strong as they were earlier. North is last in the county in points allowed (29.3 per game).
The Cavs are trying to avoid only the fourth 0-5 start in school history. The others were in 1958, 1989 and 2008.
Norwood, which is south of Albemarle, is 46 miles from Spencer.